CEO’s Auckland commute
Here’s a look at what’s been happening this week in Waikato community newspapers.
‘‘It is working well for us at the moment to be honest. It is not ideal not being together but there are a lot of other CEOs that commute all around the world and they are away from their families for a lot more than five days of the week.’’ Craig Hobbs
South Waikato District Council chief executive Craig Hobbs has denied that moving to Auckland means he’s planning to resign.
Hobbs, who has held the position since 2013 and is contracted until 2020, recently put his Arapuni home on the market and moved his wife and 11-yearold son to Auckland where they are renting.
He said the move is not due to a planned career change on his behalf, but that of his wife Lucy AnastasiadouHobbs who has become the director of philanthropy at Auckland Museum.
‘‘She got offered the role about 18 months ago and it was one of those opportunities where it was too good for her to say no to,’’ he said.
‘‘Up until Christmas she was commuting to Auckland, going up on Monday morning and coming back on Thursday night.
‘‘She has supported me throughout my career and I have moved her around from Athens, to Auckland, to Hamilton, to Arapuni so I said ‘‘look it is too good of an opportunity, I will support you in whatever you do’’.
We made the decision that we would do the thing in reverse.
Hobbs is now commuting from Auckland every Monday and returning to his family on Friday night.
‘‘It is not too bad to be honest. I left at
6am this morning and got down here just after 9am,’’ he said.
‘‘It is working well for us at the moment to be honest.
‘‘It is not ideal not being together but there are a lot of other CEOs that commute all around the world and they are away from their families for a lot more than five days of the week.’’
He said the council has happily supported the move.
‘‘Because the family aren’t here I am putting the hours in the evening so they are getting their pound of flesh,’’ he laughed.
Hobbs said once his home was sold in Arapuni he will likely buy or rent a smaller place in Tokoroa.
‘‘The house in Arapuni is just too big for me to be out there on my own. We don’t really want to sell it to be honest because we built it and it is a fantastic part of the world but reality is that we will just down size,’’ he said.
He said he has no plans to resign. ‘‘You never know what’s on the horizon but I have got another two years on my contract and I am committed to it at this stage that is for sure,’’ he said.
South Waikato News
Counting their blessings
The Filipino mother of a little girl with a rare, life-threatening blood disease, is counting her blessings they are in New Zealand.
Johanna Lapuz, 5, was diagnosed with Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis, known as HLH, two months after she and her family moved from the Philippines.
If Johanna was still in the Philippines, it’s likely she would have been misdiagnosed and died.
Johanna’s parents Jessica and Ronald moved to New Zealand on a two-year work visa in July, 2017.
They took up family ministry work at Matamata’s Youth with a Mission.
They travelled with three of their five children. Johanna is the youngest.
In September, Johanna started battling recurring fevers.
She was referred to Waikato Hospital and placed in isolation.
Within two days she was transported by ambulance in critical condition to Starship Hospital.
A bone marrow sample revealed the HLH. Patients with HLH have overactive T an NK blood cells, which in healthy people would fight infection.
These cells attack healthy blood cells killing the immune system.
Jessica said in the Philippines, HLH would have been misdiagnosed as measles or dengue fever.
Jessica and Ronald, devout Christians, have no doubt God brought them to New Zealand to save Johanna’s life.
‘‘We are blessed to be here,’’ said Jessica.
‘‘When we left, we had no idea she had
‘‘We would never have got the help we needed if we were still there.’’ In her first week at Starship, Johanna had chemotherapy.
She has had 23 rounds of chemo in total.
A bone marrow transplant is her best chance to fight the disease.
Her 24-year-old brother Ronald Junior (Reggie), still in the Philippines, is a match.
The Lapuz family is trying to fundraise for Reggie’s travel and living costs.
His young family will remain in the Philippines without an income.
They hope to raise enough for Ronald Snr to leave work to be with his family throughout Johanna’s 12 week recovery.
We all want to be together because it is the most critical stage,’’ said Jessica.
Doctors are optimistic the bone marrow will be successful.
But Jessica is standing on her faith. ‘‘I am holding on to hope,’’ she said. To donate, visit the family’s givealittle page.
Matamata Chronicle
Railway land debate
Ruapehu Ma¯ ori are crying foul over a planned redevelopment of the Taumarunui Railway Station, claiming it is part of a Treaty of Waitangi settlement.
Nga¯ ti Ha¯ ua, rangatira (chief) and Antoine Kaka from Marumaru hapu¯ , issued mayor Don Cameron with a warning to stop any development on KiwiRail land saying it threatens their plans to build a factory on the site.
The council had been planning to turn the disused railway station into a arts, cultural and tourist hub which is currently under consultation with the community.
Kaka said they were planning to create a factory that builds affordable housing.
A minimum of 17 jobs would be created to start with and he was guaranteeing more jobs would be available for locals as manufacturing increases.
‘‘What we would like to do is create a housing solution for a lot of hapu¯ around the country who don’t have housing and the product we are manufacturing is housing for hapu¯ around the country which are substantial.’’
Several iwi will invest in the manufacturing plant but this will be put at risk by the council’s proposal to turn the area into a tourist hub.
Kaka warned the council to stop with any further public consultation including using ratepayer money to develop the site until the Crown decides ownership.
Council chief executive Clive Manley said they were not aware that KiwiRail would be giving up any part of the land but they were open to discuss and work through any issues.
‘‘I don’t think we would stop at this stage enhancing the building. We’ve got a 35-year minus one day lease with KiwiRail but who the landowner is doesn’t impact on the use for the community to use that space.’’ However Kaka said the railway land, buildings, siding and sheds were under treaty negotiation.
‘‘This will only result in a costly consequence for the ratepayers and the community at large. The community needs to be aware of [this] as part and parcel of any discussion that takes place.’’ Kaka presented the injunction to council at a public meeting recently.
He said the Office of Treaty Settlement would be contacting the council soon to advise them of the negotiation.
‘‘We want Taumarunui to be a place for our children to grow up and have jobs and a healthy lifestyle.
‘‘If we don’t bring real jobs back into this community and we don’t utilise that rail head for what it was built for which was to ship products across the country, then we’re losing a huge economic advantage because that rail head is only one of a number of sites KiwiRail offered us right now.’’
Ruapehu Press